Montalcino
The Cortonesi winery is a family-owned winery in Montalcino. Today, Tommaso, Marco and Giulio continue the winemaking work according to tradition, while employing modern technologies to the enhance the quality of their production. Cortonesi owns some of the most prized vineyards in the north and south-east of Montalcino. Since 1998 wines from La Manella and Il Poggiarelli have been vinified separately. Marco understood the importance of separating the grapes from these two different terroirs, to underline their characteristics and peculiarities of each, and to fully show the full potential of the territory of Montalcino.
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Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 'La Mannella'
| SKU | None |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany |
| Type | Red |
| Varietal | Sangiovese |
| Listing | |
| Case Config. | 6x750ml |
| Available In | BC MB |
Colour
Saturated, dark red
Aroma
Aromas of dark berries, leather and rose.
Flavour
Rich and smooth, with notes of red berry and cocoa. Medium bodied with fine tannin and a juicy finish.
Food Pairing
Pairs beautifully with lamb chops, portobello mushroom steaks, or gamey meats.
More Info
Only made in the most exceptional years, the Cortonesi Brunello Riserva is aged 4-5 years in oak, then aged in the bottle for 10 months.
Decanter, Nov/2024
2019 -
"Produced only in superlative years since 1995, La Mannella is a tribute to the estate’s oldest vines in the cool northern reaches of Montalcino. Despite long ageing in Slavonian oak casks, it exhibits striking vibrancy. Yellow broom and anise infuse black and red currants, which ring out on the palate with precision and intensity. A fleshy core is well enveloped with assertive yet supple tannins. It's not a big wine but delivers plenty of transparent fruit and mouth-cleansing acidity. An excellent achievement." - Michaela Morris
James Suckling, Dec/2024
2019 -
"Lovely spice with cedar and cinnamon as well as red-berry and cherry aromas that follow through to a medium body with a solid core of fruit and a long and juicy finish. Polished tannins. Drinkable but better in two or three years and beyond."
Jeb Dunnuck, Jan/2025
2019 -
"The bright brick red-colored 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva La Mannella is elegant, with a spiced and floral nose offering refined notes of cinnamon, dried flowers, grenadine, and rocky earth. The palate is tightly wound and energetic, with a medium-bodied frame, snappy, ripe acidity, fine tannins, and a mineral-driven texture. It closes with lingering notes of orange peel and spice and a balanced finish. It will need a couple of years in cellar to unfurl before drinking over the following 15 years. Drink 2027-2042." - Audrey Frick
Wine Spectator, Jun/2025
2019 -
"Broad and dense, this red displays lavender, strawberry, cherry, eucalyptus and graphite aromas and flavors. Clenches on the finish, where a burr of tannins emerges and compacts the finish." - Bruce Sanderson
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Nov/2023
2019 -
"The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Mannella Riserva is a wonderfully balanced mix of savory and sweet. Crushed stones and grilled sage surrender to black cherries and cloves, soothing the palate with cool-toned acidity. Silken and round, a wave of ripe red and black fruits drenches the senses in primary concentration. It finishes with notable length and tannic, yet with a resonance of sapid fruit." - Eric Guido
James Suckling, Nov/2021
2016 -
"Sweet berry, cherry and orange-peel aromas with hints of flowers, following through to a medium body with firm, silky tannins and a juicy finish. Lovely fine tannins that run the length of the wine and give it energy and a refined structure. Better after 2023, but already a beauty."
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Feb/2022
2016 -
"Only made in the best years, the Cortonesi 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva La Mannella is a wine that makes its special Riserva status very clear. Released with one more year of age after a Brunello annata, Riserva can be distinguished by more oak aging or by the selection of fruit used. In this case, the wine's identity is closely linked to the La Mannella parcel, which has old vines that deliver freshness and structure. This wine is broad and fleshed out with lots of softness and extra richness between the lines."
Wine Enthusiast, Apr/2022
2016 -
"Made with grapes hailing from 37-year-old vines and aged in large Slavonian casks, this classically crafted wine has aromas of ripe black-skinned fruit, violet, sunbaked earth and new leather. The full-bodied palate features juicy Morello cherry, licorice and chewing tobacco framed in tightly wound, refined tannins while fresh acidity keeps it balanced. It's still youthfully austere, so give it time to fully develop. Drink 2026–2036."
Wine Spectator, Jun/2022
2016 -
"Boasts bright black cherry, blackberry, plum, iron and underbrush aromas and flavors, which are backed by a spine of assertive tannins. Though tight and compact on the finish, there is lingering fruit to strike an overall equilibrium. Best from 2025 through 2042."
Decanter, Nov/2021
2016 -
"Tommaso Cortonesi prefers to make site-specific wines, bottling the estate’s two vineyard areas separately. In superior vintages, a Riserva is selected from Cortonesi’s oldest plots in La Mannella, which sits close to the revered Montosoli hill. After long ageing in 30-hectolitre Slavonian oak casks, the 2016 is sombre and stern in its delivery and will need more time to yield. Imbued with cocoa, flint and tobacco, it is a sinewy Brunello with stuffing but no extra fat. Very concentrated in steely acidity, this shows the vintage’s underlying freshness."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Dec/2021
2016 -
"The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva La Mannella is dark and inward, offering smoky notes of dried cherries, roses, leather strap and hints of camphor. It’s rich and velvety-smooth, with mineral-tinged red berries and savory spices that flesh out across the palate. It leaves a salty flourish, along with notes of licorice and tobacco, and residual acids maintain a lovely freshness in spite of the web of fine tannins that resonate throughout. I don’t believe that this is superior to the straight Brunello in 2016; it’s simply a rendition that will perform better over a longer period of time."
James Suckling, Nov/2020
2015 -
"A tight, rather linear red with blackberry, black-cherry, chocolate and walnut aromas and flavors. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, silky tannins and a fresh finish. Still tight. Drink after 2022."
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Nov/2020
2015 -
"Softer for sure compared to the 2016 wines, and more abundant in personality, the Cortonesi 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva La Mannella is very expressive of the sunny, warm and luminous growing season. Rich fruit flavors of dark plum, black cherry and cassis are interwoven with spice, sweet tobacco and balsam herb. This wine is fermented in steel for 25 days and is then racked into oak for a long 48-months élevage. This wine is only made in the best years, and it draws its fruit from the estate's oldest vines, which are 37 years old. A mere 3,658 bottles were made."
Decanter, Mar/2021
2015 -
"From the estate's oldest vines of their La Mannella site, planted in 1983, this sees a fairly long 35-day maceration with ageing in 30hL barrels. Introverted at first, the nose is promising with red cherry, black raspberry, clove and lilac waiting in wings. It's full and expansive on the palate, where luscious, toothsome fruit meets dry, chalky tannins, while citrussy acidity keeps this fresh. A slightly rustic but enjoyable mouthful with a grippy finish."
James Suckling, Dec/2018
2012 -
"Plenty of black fruit on the nose! Great richness and bold, dry tannins, carrying the very long, powerful finish. Better from 2019, but it has a couple of decades of aging potential."
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Feb/2018
2012 -
"Fruit from the oldest vines is used to make the single-vineyard 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva La Mannella. The wine is aged for four long years in large casks made from Slavonian oak. That extra aging has shaped a deep and penetrating wine with a darkly saturated color and well-measured aromas of black fruit and spice. This is a warmer vintage too (compared to the more balanced 2013), and the wine appears fleshier and more succulent as a result. There is a point of bitterness or sourness on the close that I encountered in other Riservas from this vintage. Only 4,000 bottles were produced."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Apr/2018
2012 -
"Bright saturated dark red. Blackberry jelly and nutty oak on the nose, complicated by whiffs of red cherry pie and mocha. Sweet and lush on entry, then turns mountingly hard and tough, displaying a distinctly gritty quality to its ripe dark berry flavors and tannins. Finishes broad with a suggestion of nutty evolution on the back end."